Stand By Me
by ducktapedmoose
Summary: A discovery is made. This happens right after Mac is tried for murder.


A/N: Hey, I think this story is pretty decent, so I thought I'd post it. Hope you like it!  
  
Disclaimer: Come on, do you really think I own JAG? I'm just borrowing the characters, I swear!  
  
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"Mac, the guy just tried to pin a murder on you, and you're gonna have dinner with him?" I asked her. She shrugged a little and said,  
  
"Yeah, it'll give him a chance to apologize." I couldn't believe it. So I scoffed and said,  
  
"The men you pick..." I meant that in more ways than she probably applied it, but that's okay. She laughed a little. I wanted to leave it at that, but I couldn't.   
  
"Mac, don't go to dinner with Mic." She looked at me, an amused/surprised look in her eyes.  
  
"Why not?" She asked me. I took a deep breath, and looked at her.  
  
"Because I'm asking you to go with me." I told her. She's having a hard time understanding.   
  
"But Harm, he asked me first." She had replied, a quizzical look gracing her features.  
  
"I know that, but...Come on, Mac. We just got you off the hook, and Brumby was trying to sacrifice you to the court so he could get his client off. You want to eat with the guy? I don't get it." What I had really meant by all that was, 'What's so great about him? We've been through so much together! Go with me!'  
  
"Let me put you in my situation. Bobbi Latham asks you to dinner. You tell her to call you. Then I ask you to go out to dinner with me. Who do you go with, Harm?"   
  
Without hesitating, I told her, "You." She looked at me strangely, then told me that she couldn't go with me because she had to make the new guy feel welcome. I was heartbroken.  
  
"Oh. Okay. I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow." I walked away from her. I would later find out that she almost came after me.   
  
I didn't know what to do. Since Bugme said that thing about me being in love with Mac, I had been thinking about it. And I came to the conclusion that he was right. I was falling for her. But my first attempt at being with her outside of work since that realization had been shut down. Because of Brumby. Damn that Aussie idiot.   
  
So what do I do? I want to tell her. Especially now. All of the men that have been coming and going from her life in the past few days; Ragle, Farrow, and Brumby, made me realize just how in demand she is. How many men want her. If there's any chance that she would want something with me, then I'm going to take advantage of it.   
  
It took me all of ten minutes after getting home to decide to go to her.   
  
When I got there, I pounded on the door, hoping she wasn't already out with Brumby. She opened the door, expecting me to be him.   
  
"Mic, come- Harm? What are you doing here?" She lets me come in, and I stand there looking at her for a second, marveling at her beauty. I've never really stopped to look at her until today. She really is as beautiful as everyone says.   
  
"Mac, I have to talk to you." I told her. I stopped, struck silent by her angelic face. She shifted nervously on her feet.  
  
"Okay. What about?" I don't know what posessed me when I stepped closer to her. I was standing so close to her. I could feel the heat coming off her body. And suddenly, I understood why Chris had wanted her back. And why Farrow had gotten involved with her. Why Mic wanted her. She truly was the most incredible creature on the face of the earth.   
  
So, naturally, I wanted her in that moment. And as I watched her eyes widen when I reached up and brushed my fingers across her cheek, I realized that I had always wanted her. So I closed the distance, and kissed her softly on the lips. Then, as I was pulling back, she looked into my eyes, understanding what I was trying to make her see. She opened her mouth to say something, and there was a knock on the door. She turned her head towards the door, and then looked back at me.  
  
"That's Mic." She whispered. I nodded.  
  
"I guess I'll go then." I said quietly. She nodded, and I turned away from her, walking to the door. I opened it, to reveal Bugme holding a boquet of flowers in his hands. He looked surprised to see me, but when I smiled and bade him a good night, he grinned smugly. Damn Aussie.  
  
Upon getting home, I sat on the couch and put my head in my hands. And I thought. I thought for hours. Why didn't she want me? I couldn't figure it out. I thought that we had something. I just didn't understand how I could have misinterpreted all that had happened between us.   
  
Sometime after dark, someone knocked on the door. I figured it was Bobbie Latham, come to see if I wanted to hang out. When I opened the door, I discovered the last person I had expected to see; Sarah MacKenzie.  
  
"Mac?" I had said. She had smiled at me, and come in when I gestured to her to.   
  
"Harm, we didn't get to finish our talk." She said. I looked at her.   
  
"Yeah, about that...I just wanted to tell you that if Gumby said anything about me not thinking of you as a woman, he was wrong. A conversation that he and I had got me to thinking, and I figured out a lot of things pertaining to you." I don't know why I was so straightforward with her, but I just had to be. When I looked up at her, she looked confused.  
  
"What did you figure out?" She had asked me. I looked into her eyes.   
  
"I got to thinking about something Bugme said. He said that every man in the office is a little bit in love with you. Not that he blames us, of course." I added the last part as humor, and she smiled a little.   
  
"Harm, you and I both know that that's ridiculous. He was probably just trying to make a point." I shook my head, smiling slightly.  
  
"Mac, do you know who you are? If he'd said that about any other woman, what you just said about him proving his point might be believable. But it's you, Mac. You are the goddess of JAG. Even with the things that you've done in your past, every man at JAG is a little bit in love with you. Except me." She looked hurt and confused.   
  
"Except you?" She asked me. I nod, stepping closer to her. Her beautiful, vulnerable brown eyes shone in the light from the kitchen. I was only a breath away from her, surprised that she hadn't backed away from me.   
  
"Except me. Because I'm completely in love with you." After I said that, tears came to her eyes, and she kissed me hard. She held on to me tightly, kissing me like I was her lifeline. I embraced her, holding on to her with equal passion and urgency. When we seperated, she rested her forehead on mine, looking into my eyes.  
  
"When did this happen?" She asked me softly. I smiled.  
  
"I don't know. It took seeing how many men want you for me to realize it, though. I have to know. Do you still have feelings for Farrow?" I asked her. She shook her head.  
  
"No. It's been you for a while now." I had to grin at her. I couldn't believe that the woman that every man wanted, but only few had had, wanted me. She wanted me.   
  
"Wow. I can't believe this is happening." She smiled, her beautiful smile lit up the room.   
  
"I know." She said.   
  
"You're so far out of my league. If we were in high school, I never would have had the courage to talk to you." She laughed, then kissed me again. I was lost in her kisses, lost in my love for her, lost in our newfound happiness.   
  
******  
  
So that's how it happened. That's how I finally came to my senses and got my girl. I guess I learned something from this whole experience. You should never give up on your dreams, never forget the things that you really want. If you put your mind to it, you can be happy. I know I am.  
  
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A/N: I really liked the idea for this one, so I hope you all liked it too. Reviews would be nice, they might compel me to get off my lazy butt and post more stories. 


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